Grace in Vain

 Grace in Vain

A Lesson on Serving God



"We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain." ---(2 Cor. 6:1)

We are encouraged here to not receive the Grace of God in Vain.

What does that mean?

Well when we look at most of the verses in the previous chapter we see that God saved us so we can work to save others. 

We have the ministry of reconciliation. We are called to reconcile humans to God.

So, in chapter 6 Paul says to not receive the Grace of God in Vain. That means, for no purpose.

Many believers have gotten saved, and then have done nothing but sit in pews, singing songs, and heaping to themselves teachers, having itching ears. Hoping to hear some new thing.

They struggle with sin that God has already defeated and do nothing but drink milk.

They have received Grace in vain.

Have they ever led a person to Christ? Have they ever sat down with the hurting? Have they ever listened to the Spirit and moved forward To help someone? Have they even read the Bible? Have you?

So Paul goes on, speaking about what a life of service would look like.

He starts out by saying that we should be careful to not offend in anything lest it bring reproach on our service to Christ.

 

"Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:" 2 Cor. 6:3

This is talking about typical things that are offensive. Things that really don't matter but still cause distraction. Because the Bible teaches that the Gospel and believers are offensive to the lost. So, this is not talking about that. This verse is referring to being offensive in our actions and words. An example would be, attacking someone based upon political beliefs. And yes, I'm probably very guilty of this. But, I'm trying.

Then, Paul speaks of the servants life in Christ. It is a hard list. Let's go through it verse by verse.

In all things we show we are the ministers of God. Whether it's trouble or need.

Whether it's persecutions, or labor, or watchings or prayer. (Watchings is going without sleep in prayer. It's like fasting but with sleep)

We do this by "By pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,"

We also do it, "By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,

 By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true;"

The armor of righteousness is on us because we are righteous in Christ. Not by our own works. It is the breastplate spoken of in Ephesians. 6:14

We continue in this whether people speak good or bad of us. Whether they lie about us or not. Whether they call us liars as well. We continue to serve. We are pure in Christ. Not ourselves. We have knowledge He gives us. We are patient by His power through the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We are kind and we do not fake love. People can tell when you are fake. Let the Holy Spirit love others through you. It's hard.

As servants we continue to behave properly even in situations as these,

As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;

As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

This is how we are called to be in Christ as we serve Him. Bad things come into our lives, and we are broken by them, and use them to glorify God and to mold us. We use it as correction to be better. God brought us through for a purpose. That purpose is to serve Him and help others.

I know we live our lives and that this is somewhat radical. I know we fail. I fail terribly. But, it is our service.

We are called to abide in Him and spread the Gospel, building the Kingdom. We present ourselves to God confessing Him as our Lord and letting him guide us into what He would have us to do.

Has life broken you, and God brought you through? That might be a good place to start helping people. You have overcome through Christ, and others need your help. Pray about it. Ask God to use you. But, expect to be troubled. You might need to step out into something you don't like.

Listen to the Lord. Sometimes He will prompt you. He might put someone on your heart. Call them. Visit them. Pray for them.  Do not wait. The devil will snatch it from you. You might see someone in need and for a second feel that you should help. DO IT. Be safe. Be wise. But do it. He is calling you. When you hesitate Satan will fill you with fear, doubt and distraction.

Do you feel led to give to a ministry. DO IT. God won't let you go broke. He will bring it back. Has someone blessed you? Tell them. Spread love and good things. Pray for people without their knowing.

Do not let your salvation be all about sitting in a church pew and bible study. Go and let God work through you. We are called to abide and have a relationship with Him. This happens by seeing Him work. That doesn't happen sitting in a building. He wants to include you. Let him lead you. He will. Ask Him, and trust Him.

Praise God always, Confess your sins to Him always, and turn to Him in everything. No matter how bad things are do not cast Him aside. This is abiding. This is relationship. Add service to this. Seek to step out and serve Him and others and you will see Him move in your life. Some lessons cannot be learned in a classroom.

Realize that when I speak of this I am not talking about a loss of salvation.. If you are saved you cannot lose it. God keeps His Word. But, the question is, Are you really one with Christ if you do not want to build the kingdom? So, were you ever saved? And if so, it would be terrible to enter heaven having brought no one with you. Even the thief on the cross tried to bring someone.

I'm not trying to push guilt, fear and shame. I hate when preachers do that. But, we are soldiers in the army of Jesus Christ. And in an army there are sergeants who will push you to get up and fight.

We have a kingdom to build. We are in a war. The enemy is hurting people all around us.

Fight.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called "The Future is Coming" and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogspot: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

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The New World Order Anti-Christ Kingdom

 The New World Order Anti-Christ Kingdom

A Word on Prophecy 

What is it? Well in my view, it begins at some point before time; when Lucifer decided to be “As the most high God.” (Isa. 14:12-20, Ezek. 28:1-19) He and an untold vast number of angels and spiritual beings of various sorts rebelled against God, becoming infected with Sin and fell.
      
     The war had begun and Satan, driven mad by pride and the plague of Sin that had come upon him, wanted to be God. He started working to replace, mimic and steal God’s Creation. He moved upon the humans God had created and led them to fall from God, and rebel as well.
      
     He did this by promising them that “Ye shall be as gods”. He told them that God was hiding something from them, and that they could know what it is, and become gods in the process. That idea is what continues to fuel the New World Order Anti-Christ Kingdom. It is the idea that humans will evolve to become gods, and that we will create a world that will match our god status. (Gen. 3)
      
     When mankind fell, Satan gained dominion over the Earth. He and those angels who follow him came to Earth to take physical possession of what is theirs. They took the women of the Cainite race, from the line of Cain. Those who had fallen prey to a deceptive global religion, which grew into a global empire that sucked all humans into it. This included the line of Seth who mingled with them.   
     This same thing is occurring today; an ideology that is really a religion that is helping to grow a system. While believers are drawn into it as well, and mingle with them.
      
     God wiped out that former world wide system with a Global Flood. We can see evidence of this Flood, and the old empire today. But, the enemy began re-building the system God had wiped out in the Flood, and led the entire world to build the Tower of Babel, which is another picture of what is going on today. A global system being built that opposes God. That system was again destroyed by God; He does not want unity apart from Himself through Christ. The languages of humans became confused and they spread out globally to their own places, before a great cataclysm broke up the continents, and separated everyone.
    
      The Enemy again, began to build his system through his earthly minions. He led to the creation of more world empires, throughout the planet; Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and many others throughout history. All of them working for the same goal, whether they knew it or not. They are all part of the same system. They were ruled by demons, and human royalty who worked on the New World Order till Christ came and broke their yoke of bondage on mankind in the spirit.
      
     But after Christ, the enemy continued to spread global empires over and over again. He created religions and twisted human beliefs, over and over again, seeking to pull humanity together and keep them from God. Through secret societies, mystery schools, finances, corporations, religions, warfare, government, media, arts, education, intelligence communities, and deceptions of all kinds he has worked to create this system.
      
     It continues to grow, and to gain more control, and pull people together while the whole world waits for a superman to come and save us. To save us from the evil we have created. To save us from what Satan has deceived us into bringing upon ourselves. So, that he can bring us the final solution. The final answer to all our problems, he created. It will be the final deception that leads to ultimate destruction; The Superman, The Anti-Christ and his world system.
      
     The stage is set, the people are ready, and it’s coming soon. Only to be ultimately destroyed by the Lord Himself, at His glorious return. Even so, come Lord Jesus.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called "The Future is Coming" and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

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Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photo by the writer. The Washington Monument in Washington D.C.  One of 3 obelisks of power. One in the Vatican, one in the city of London and one in D.C.

Samson's Grace

 Samson's Grace

A Word on Faith and Grace

 

Let’s look at Samson. (Judges 13:1-Judges 16:31)  He is one of the Bible characters, whose entire life proves that it is all about God.

      

     Samson was born by promise, and was made a Nazarite at birth. His parents obeyed the Word of the Lord given to them by the angel. Samson did nothing at all. It was all done for him and without his power; much like our salvation. We are called by God, we hear His Word about Jesus Christ, passed down to us through the elders, and we believe, confessing Him as Lord. It’s that simple.

      

     Samson lived a sinful life, yet God was with him. His source of power was not his hair. God was his source of power. His hair is a picture of something that grows, which is not controlled by man, other than the power to cut it off. Faith grows, and God works in our lives, as long as we continue to have faith in Him, despite our sinful actions.

      

     He waged war against the enemies of God who were oppressing the people. Remember, God let the Philistines take over Israel, because of their falling away from God. But, when they turned to God, He raised up Samson to fight their enemies. Samson was sinful, Israel was sinful, and the Philistines were sinful. The difference lies in who turned to and trusted God, and the promises God has made. When we trust God and turn to Him, He is with us no matter what. But, when we turn away from Him, the enemy can take over. This has nothing to do with sinful behavior. It has to do with whether you are turning to God, because only God can fix our sinfulness, and failures. Abiding in Him, leads to growth, like Samson’s hair. It grows and we don’t even notice.

      

     Samson was tricked by Delilah which allowed the Philistines the ability to overcome him. Samson already had Delilah sexually, this was not the first time he had seen her, or been with her, as the story implies. So, sex was not the reason he gave up his secret. He gave up his secret, because he became convinced of his invincibility, and trusted something or someone other than God. His secret is God. His hair is the works God has done for Him and the faith He had in God. Samson gave up the one thing that kept him safe; the one thing that kept Him alive and prospered him. The particulars are irrelevant. Samson stopped trusting God. He stopped abiding in Him.

      

     He was captured and tortured and locked up. Much like Israel, who had lost faith in God, and turned from Him. The enemy was able to overcome him. This led to Samson, and Israel being broken, which led to the crying out to God, which is what we should do when we are being broken. Our pride makes us believe we can do it alone. Pride must be broken. Samson’s hair began to grow back. His faith began to grow in that rock bottom place.

     

      And after he was broken, he cried out to God, and God gave him a tremendous victory. God did not abandon Him. Samson did not lose his salvation. God was always there, waiting for Samson to cry out in faith, and God moved in a mighty way. God fulfilled his own purpose through Samson, which was the destruction of the enemy, and setting His people free. That is God’s purpose always; to defeat the enemy and set us free in Him.

     

      Remember, “ALL things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)  So, no matter what, remember that you are called, and abide in Christ. Pray, praise, speak faith, confess your sins to Him, and watch Him work. Follow the Holy Spirit as He guides you, and you will see things moving and happening. Eventually one day you will look up and you will be different, and it will be just like growing hair. It’ll be slow and steady, and without your help. Then, you will see that it was all God. You will see that He loves you, and that everything is Ok, and your faith will grow.

 

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called "The Future is Coming" and is a collection of dystopian short stories.  Photo by the Author. A small courtyard near the Capitol Building in Washington D. C.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photo by the Author. A small courtyard near the Capitol Building in Washington D. C.